36  SELLING  LATIN  AMERICA

The  climatic  conditions,  owing  to  the  fact  that
it  extends  over  thirty-four  degrees  of  latitude,
vary  from  tropical  in  the  north  to  practically
arctic  coldness  in  the  south,  the  seasons  being
the  reverse  of  ours,—that  is,  they  have  winter
when  we  have  summer  and  vice  versa.  The
greater  portion  of  the  country  is  in  the  temperate ­
  zone,  the  summers  being  very  hot  and  the
winters  typified  by  heavy  rains,  especially  in
the  eastern  portion,  diminishing  toward  the
west  where  there  is  often  much  drought.  In
the  extreme  south,  in  what  was  formerly  Patagonia ­
  the  heavy  snows  of  winter  take  the  place
of  rains,  which  together  with  the  warm  summers ­
  produce  a  luxuriant  growth  of  grass,  especially ­
  adapted  for  the  grazing  of  sheep.
The  Argentine  has  for  some  years  been  one
of  the  granaries  of  the  world  and  as  its  available ­
  land  becomes  cultivated  is  destined  to
play  a  more  important  role  in  this  field.
Some  idea  of  its  rapid  development  may  be
gained  from  the  fact  that  in  1904,  26,000,000
acres  were  under  cultivation,  while  in  1913
over  60,000,000  were  sown.  Wheat  is  of